Maybe I need to leave home
by ElisabethMcCawley
Summary: "Running from the past" under a different title. Hopefully broken down better and easier to read
1. Default Chapter

**  
A tall girl stood in front of her house afraid to go inside. After all, her mother had given her permission to go out with her friends, now it was her stepfather she had to watch out for. She took a deep breath and slowly climbed the stairs leading up to the house while getting ready for one of the famous sneaking out lectures. "And where were you just now Missy?" she heard the one voice she despised even more the Weasel's. "None of your business" she spat out quickly forgetting to whom she was speaking to.   
  
The girl never got along with her stepfather, after all, her own dad died just three years earlier. Her step-dad was still talking, but he was soon tuned out. Blah, Blah, Blah, same boring lecture. She decided she had enough and headed to the stairs. Even though the Foxworth's were wealthy, there was one thing the money couldn't bring back. Her father. Mike Foxwoth had been killed at a bank robbery. The robber got what he wanted and then went a little crazy. She sighed and stared out the window as she heard "The Duke" telling her Mom how unruly she was and how she would never survive with a smart mouth and being a smart aleck.  
  
She ran upstairs and quickly packed her things. As she was leaving, her mother stopped her. Denise Foxworth was beautiful as ever, for the family was going to a party that night. Our future Newsie stopped to look at her mother and memorize her voice and looks one last time. "Where are you off to? get ready, we're leaving in 10 minutes"  
  
"Uh- I'm just going to get my shoes. I left them at Susan's" Jessie said as she tried to smile off what was really going happen hoping her mother wouldn't read between the lines. Her mother looked at her for a second then said "You are definitely your father's child. You got the same blue eyes and same smart attitude." It was true, I had kind of a sturdy blue eye color. Not the soft brown my mother wished upon me.   
  
I started off slow at first, then the pace quickened and before I knew it, I ran into a tall boy selling newspapers. I looked at him and thought he wasn't too bad looking so I gave him a dollar once I figured out what he was doing on that corner on that not very warm morning. "Are you sure this is all for me?" he asked slowly starting to hand it back. I pushed it back into his hand. "no, take it. It's yours now" I said and started to walk away. The newsie looked at it for about 20 seconds and yelled back "So, how about I treat ya to lunch with it?"  
"If I say no, is there any chance you will leave me alone?" I asked with a smile "Not a chance"  
"Okay, you sweet talked me into it" they walked along for a while stopping along the way so the newsie could get rid of his papers. He was even a gentlemen and let me give it a try. Soon we got to a friendly looking place called Tibby's. "This is kinda a local hangout. Eva hear of it" he asked even though he already knew the answer. Jessie quickly thought of an answer _okay, I promised myself if anybody asked about this type of thing, I would act like I knew what to do and act like I know_, but then I said "No, I've never been here before" _ Yeah_ . the Newsie thought, _I can tell_.   
  
"Oh, by the way, we've been talking about everything but the most important part. I'm Mike Bonney" he said with a great smile."Nice to meet you, Jessie Foxworth" I said spitting on my palm and extending it like I've seen them do. Mike looked shocked before taking it and shaking warmly. "Do you have any idea where you are going to stay now that you don't live at home anymore" he asked sounding a little worried , but at this time I couldn't tell. That question hit home with me because I was still smiling at the name of my father. "I'm not sure. That's the one part of my plan I don't have figured out yet" I said looking at the door. "well I know of a place you can stay, only problem is you can't go there until tomorrow night when there is a spare bunk. So, will ya be around tomorrow? I can show ya what to do and where to go for everything" I smiled to myself. Yes, everything is going just how I want. This is gonna be fine.   
  
**  



	2. If I'm gone..

**Everything wasn't fine. I didn't want to be on the streets, even if it was just for one night. Who knows what could be lurking around (Muggers, bulls, and worst of all, The Delancy brothers). I stopped and leaned against a street pole and looked up at the sky "Well, what do I do now?" I asked to whoever might be listening and wasn't surprised when nobody responded since the area was deserted. _Okay, streets or not. I'm tired and I'm going to get some sleep, but first... _One more thing I said to myself while climbing up somebody's fire escape.   
  
As I made my way up there, the whole city lay spread out before my eyes. IT was one of the very last "Family Things" I did when everything was fine and my mother wasn't married to a Bachagoulpe(sp?) and I remembered every bit of that outing completley. I stretched out on the roof and fell asleep dreaming about all sorts of thing, I didn't even bother to try and sort everything out.   
When I finally woke up the next morning I realized I missed the meeting with Mike to do what he called a Training Day. Jumping off the fire escape , 87 hours later I got to the meeting spot only to have missed him. Stopping to catch my breath after the running and muttering "oh, damn." No sooner had I said that, then I could have sworn I could have heard my mother's voice saying "A lady never swears in public" Starting to walk away, I heard a familiar voice yell "Hey, are ya looking for me? why ya leaving. What's going on?"  
"I thought I missed ya so I was gonna go search" I said lying. "Naw, you didn't' miss me, I was jist gettin here myself. Overslept. Once you join the group, you'll find that sleep is one of the things your always looking for, that and money" well, this is it. Here we go We walked on  
"Mike, I said in my most serious voice, if you are trying to make me laugh, you'll have to do better then that."  
 "Come here Princess Smarty Pants" he said all ready to give me a nudge "I have a lot more where those came from, I'll tame the shrew and get you to crack a smile" I shook my head "Sure Mike, anything you say." I knew how talk to him. "Yes" him to death and agree with everything.  After a while and I was starting to learn who we should watch out for, where to go, and what to do for the day when I would join the newsie team.    
**  



	3. Friends and good dreams

**Chapter 3 about 6 months later  
  
"What is the last memory you have of your parents?" the girl who's bunk was under mine asked  me as we were on our way upstairs after a long, tiring day of selling the papers or carrying the banner as some people here like to refer to selling    
"Well, I last remember a party that we went to. Molly somebody or  another threw it. My mom and I left early that night, that was the night that we found out my dad was killed."  I was stared at like I was the Ghost of Christmas past "What? I asked her." I've been stared at before, but she was ready to pass out any second.  
  
"Molly was my mother's name. Do you remember her last name by any chance?" I had to think about that one: "I only remember not wanting to go, but then I ended up having a good time with other people my age there" Anna kept thinking WHERE she had met me before since I walked in, but couldn't think of it and suddenly remembered. "YES! I was there too. Don't you remember? we were trying to beat my brother and all we had was a pillow and a shoe?" I had to laugh at the memory. I still remembered that and still thought of it when I needed a laugh.  
"All right, and if my brain is wrong and it's not, your name is.. Anna right, am I right?.. Ya know I am!" (I got that line from somewhere but I can't remember where from so I'm not taking credit for it)  
  
"Thank God you remembered. I still can't think of your last name right now."  
"Yeah, I'm glad I found an old friend too." We both laughed and told stories until we were both lying on the floor almost ready to pass out from lack of oxygen. Anna turned on her side and said "So, are you and Mr. Mike Bonney and item yet?"  
"If your thinking what I think your thinking, no. We're just friends"  
"Jessie, c'mon. A boy and a girl can't be just friends". Then I changed the subject. "So, do you remember out last game of cops and robbers before I wouldn't play anymore?" One of the boys we played with ended up being a cop and as we cornered Anna, she tripped and ended up falling into a pond.  I turned around and looked at my friend. She was asleep. "Okay, you win. Good night" I made up to my bunk thinking. _One of the things we used to do was ask questions that have no answer. The one Anna liked to ask was "why do Fools fall in Love?" _Now I was asking that question..  
  
  
**  



	4. Would you still love me tomorrow?

**  
 Eventully I learned to like my Newsie life. I even learned to live with the early hours, somehow it worked.  It was just what I wanted. Freedom. Until one day when I was selling around my old neighborhood, I was pulled into a house. Even though it was my own, I was still scared. I knew damn well who it was. "Just wait till I find out where your hiding I swear you will pay for the embarrasment your mother and I felt"  
  
I decided I had enough of him and his lip. I rose to my full 5'8" and raised my fists. It was a miricle that I tricked him into running into a wall which is where I decided to make my escape. Since the situation couldn't be any better and worked out to my advantege, I helped myself to some "Spare Change" and took a snack. I never told anybody about the events that took place that day and I only went back the next day to learn my aunt had died, and against all the wishes of my friends, went to the funeral and only approached my mother and told her that I planned to stay a newsie for good.   
  
 She was upset with my decision but then again relized how it would be in my best bet. She did wonder how people didn't know at that very time I was a runaway but then again , I dressed nicely so nobody from my old nosey neighborhood would relize. We went back home pretty quickly after that where my mother said "Now, I hope you behave better here then at the funeral."   
"What?? It's not my fault the klutz fell over my foot and tripped into an open grave" I argued back _I WAS right- I couldn't control what my stepdad did. _A slight smile spread across my mother's face "Yes sweetheart , but you didn't have to yell Start Shoveling Boys as he tried to climb out" I started laughing at how well she imitated me when "The Klutz" walked in and wondered what was so funny "Mom, do you hear a dog howling?"I asked.  
  
Well my comment got my shooed(is that a word?) upstairs. When I got to the banister, I was hit by all the photographs and memories , I got a homesick feeling and my mind floated back to when everything was not quite normal, but better then things seemed 4 months ago and now. Then a voice started saying _where you are now is a close to perfect as your gonna get at this time kid_. I stayed upstairs until about 11:30, wrote a quick note for my mom and left. When I got back to the lodging house, I started going through the things I brought. I found an old card my dad gave me for Christmas one year that my mom must have put in my bag that said "Jessie, I will love you until the day I die, maybe even more then" For the real first time since he died, I felt a lump rise in my throught, What I thought was strange though was a letter my dad wrote that seemed like was written AFTER he died. The last part especially got me.   
  
It read "I can't wait to see you both, but stay down there awhile. I'll wait for my family forever" I later heard my step-dad left our family and my mom recently moved away I think back to Boston, and I'm sorry to report that haven't heard from her since.  
  
**


	5. I will remember you

**  
      Occasionally- you know, every now and then I walk past my old neighborhood, and I  look at my home that one day just became a place I returned to every day , and have mixed emotions. I can't explain it, but My dad's letter somehow helped me believe that dreams really do come true. When I was about 13, I thought life wouldn't be worth living again, I wanted a better life and now I have some of the best newsie friends anybody could ever think of. Call me a fool, but I used to dream my dad was still alive and would one day take me away from reality and my old life.  
  
I'm finally where I belong. Like I was ment for this job, I've been part of the newsie team for a while now and I'm having the best time of my life-well except for one thing. Mike and I never hooked up, In fact, I was told he moved in with family to Missouri or someplace out there.. Too bad, I wouldn't have minded him for a boyfriend, but all is not lost. He swore to me that he'd be back. One day he'd be back. Boy, 13 year old Jessie sure was wrong when she thought life isn't worth living anymore.   
  
My Final Thought  
  
Well, thats how I became a newsie. Kinda exciting right? I bet your wondering what happened to my mom. Well, I later heard she passed away. I'm not upset though. I can only imagine the hug she must have gotten from my dad  
**


End file.
